Some Literature Made Available by OFIR

Part One of a Three-Part Series

The following is a sampling of materials made available at the Oregonians For Immigration Reform meeting of August 24, 2008. What does it say about any organization, that its most sophisticated theoretical material comes from racist and white supremacist authors? Predictably, OFIR vice-president Rick Hickey loudly proclaimed that his organization was “not racist” during the same meeting.


America Extinguished: Mass Immigration and the Disintegration of American Culture – Samuel T. Francis (2002, Americans for Immigration Control, Inc.)

Overview: This is a collection of newspaper columns by Samuel T. Francis dating from 1998 to 2001.

Sample quote: About California, “If European-Americans are no longer the majority in the state, they will no longer be able to define the civilizational framework of the state; and if they no longer define the civilizational framework of the state, other races and people will rush into the vacuum to define it themselves.” (p. 141)

About the author: Samuel T. Francis (1947 – 2005) was a paleoconservative writer and theorist who became deeply involved within the “racial creepiness” [1] of the white supremacist right during the last fifteen years of his life (the period of the writings within this collection). When Jared Taylor began his racist and pro-eugenics American Renaissance journal in 1990, Francis was an early supporter. [2] By 1993, Francis was writing for the Citizens Informer, the newsletter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC). The CCC is a white nationalist group whose lineage traces back to the White Citizens Councils of the 1950s and 60s, and whose self-proclaimed purpose is to “advocat[e] against minorities and racial integration.” [3]

In 1995, Francis received a pay cut from his employers at the right-wing Washington Times, after he wrote a tasteless article attacking the Southern Baptist convention, which had apologized for its past relationship to slavery. Francis was fired from the Times later the same year, after his racist statements to the 1994 American Renaissance conference were made public. [4]

As well as his involvement with the CCC’s Citizen’s Informer (which he edited from 1999 until his death) and American Renaissance, Francis was a frequent contributor to the nativist Middle American News and the VDARE website, as well as an associate editor at the racist and anti-Semitic journal The Occidental Quarterly. [5] By the time of his death, Francis was considered by some as the most important thinker on the radical right.

About the publisher: Americans for Immigration Control, Inc. portrays itself as “the nation's largest grassroots lobby for immigration reform.” Its president, Robert H. Goldsborough, is an anti-Semitic author who used to be aligned with the US Council for World Freedom, the American branch of the World Anti-Communist League (itself linked to Latin American death squads and former Nazis.)

Americans for Immigration Control, Inc. works closely with the American Immigration Control Foundation as well as Americans for Immigration Control, NC. I’ll provide more information on these organizations later during this series.


Immigration and the End of Self-Government – Louis T. March (1999, Representative Government Press)

Overview: In this short volume, the author argues that immigration is part of a “process of spiritual and cultural impoverishment that begets corrupt government” (p. v). March worries that the “constitutional republic” will become a “historical curiosity” (p. xi) unless the country swings towards the far-right on immigration matters.

Sample quote: “The most serious flaws of current immigration policy are its lax enforcement and anti-European bias, which have allowed a peaceful penetration of the U.S. from throughout the world. Most of the incoming peoples have little in common with the host population.” (ps. vii – viii)

About the author: Louis T. March sits on the National Board of Directors for the Carrying Capacity Network [6] alongside fellow racist Virginia Abernethy. Both he and Abernethy have been active within the Council of Conservative Citizens. [7] The author has also written another book, The Great Betrayal: The Elite's War on Middle America, in collaboration with Brent A. Nelson (more about Nelson in the next installment of this series).

About the publisher: Representative Government Press is the publishing wing of the Representative Government Education Foundation, of which March is the president. The press has published several other anti-immigrant titles, including Samuel Francis’ Ethnopolitics: Immigration, Race, and the American Political Future.


Stay tuned for more prejudiced print-matter next time!

NOTES:
[1] http://www. americasfuture. org/doublethink/2007/01/the-castaway/ Although Michael Brendan Dougherty’s article comes from a conservative perspective that is far too forgiving of Francis, this piece still provides a useful overview of Francis’ life and ideas.
[2] http://www. amren. com/mtnews/archives/2005/02/sam_francis.php
[3] See site information here.
[4] Ibid, note 1.
[5] http://www. vdare. com/taylor/080121_intro.htm
[6] http://www. carryingcapacity. org/whatis.html
[7] This connection is documented in Center for New Community, Hostile Takeover: Race, Immigration and the Sierra Club (Special Report, Summer 2004) ps. 4-5 (.pdf available online here.)

It is Up to Us

In the post-election excitement I see overtaking a lot of people I am concerned that complacency, lethargy, and a general civic disengagement will only increase. The tendency is to think someone else has everything under control—some elected official. Let us not forget that no one is going to legislate strong community. It is up to its members to make of it what they will. Those with an anti-immigrant agenda are taking a very active role.

Before everyone gets too comfortable let us take the example of Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley to illustrate how little a Democratic majority really does for the issue of immigration. Merkley wants to continue the push to punish employers of undocumented workers. He also relies on the same haggard rhetoric that will not elevate the analysis of, and public discourse around, the issue of immigration. Furthermore, he has a history of siding with Oregonians For Immigration Reform.

All civil rights issues have been furthered by citizens, and now is no exception. Those who work towards anti-immigrant objectives are vocal, active, and taking matters into their own hands. It is up to us to protect our communities against their hate, and to cultivate our communities so they are able to become the safe, vital, and welcoming places that they are capable of becoming.

Voting pro-Obama & Anti-immigrant

The New York Times declared on their Nov. 5 cover, “Racial Barrier Falls in Decisive Victory.” Yet, despite Obama’s victory, in Oregon's rural communities many people seemed to 'split the difference' and vote against immigrants, promoting racial barriers of another sort. How is this cognitive dissonance justified in the voters’ minds? A black man can be President but immigrants should not be allowed to work?

People voted for Obama, voted against huge Klan-style signs and voted in favor of financially strangling immigrants. In one breath the majority of voters in Columbia County tried to exonerate their racism and then, on inhalation, reinforce modern nativism.The successful measure, of course, fines employers $10,000 per undocumented worker, potentially shuts down their business during investigation and forces all new hires to be run through the Department of Homeland Security (5-190)

This is our post-modern era of smart racism – like a smart bomb, it is targeted, strategic and dressed up like a deceiving yellow ball. Voters undoubtedly asked themselves, “Well, how can it be racist to just enforce the law, stop exploitive workers from hiring illegals and keep illegal people out of our county?”

Economics have always been used as an excuse for institutional oppression – people who are too “risky” for loans, too “lazy” for good wages or too “gullible” to handle their own finances.

In the case of Columbia County, some voters were enabled to vote against flamboyantly ridiculous “LEGAL WORKERS ONLY” signs and therefore felt justified in passing a more realistically damning measure that sanctions employers for hiring undocumented workers. The passed measure, while less ferocious in approach, actually does more damage than a bunch of obnoxious signs. Preventing someone from working is the equivalent of a financial strangling. And, even though the signs didn’t pass, their message is still the primary language of this county. Maybe, in the interest of giving the benefit of the doubt, the voters didn’t know what to do with these two anti-immigrant measures; but it actually doesn’t matter because the majority ultimately decided that they don’t want undocumented people, or maybe immigrants at all, in their community.

Even before these voters canonized this perception of the community as anti-immigrant, the reality was already clear. The wave began in the week before the elections when employers began laying off Latino workers. Though the lay-offs have not been as bad as rumor has it, nevertheless, the workers fear for their jobs as employers react in anticipation. Workers get laid off and can’t get new jobs because there are not that many jobs and, even if they have papers, being Latino is enough to make you a suspicious employee.

Naturally, workers are broke and desperate. They work for lower pay, under the table or any other poor substitution for family wages. So, the cycle of cheap labor, fear and exploitive employers does the opposite of what the petitioner promised. In fact, the employer sanctions in Columbia County might affect Latinos most immediately but will create a 2nd class of worker that drives down wages for everyone. Moreover, as legitimate businesses come under investigation for who they hire and are not allowed to do business, the ripples will be felt deep into Latino, black, white and all communities. The man behind this measure, Wayne Mayo, not only enabled legislated racism but he also has created another situation where in targeting immigrant communities we have hurt all working people. And the county's Democratic identity and Obama-mania only makes this turn of events all the more disappointing.

Idiocracy: Too Many Syllables

Oregon Minuteman displays his true colors at the Portland Day Laborer Hire Site

OFIR, Hickey and the “New Nation” Controversy

Rick Hickey, OFIR’s Slippery Spokesman

Rick Hickey, Vice President of Oregonians for Immigration Reform, is known for being less than fully truthful. He throws out "facts" and figures that serve his purpose, whether or not they are accurate, correctly cited, or portrayed in their proper context. As a demagogue, Hickey’s rhetoric focuses on arousing emotion and prejudice; facts appear malleable to him. He is well suited for a group such as OFIR, which must hide its true identity if it is to have even modest influence within the political mainstream.

Oregonians for Immigration Reform have made frequent claims to be a non-racist organization. Their president, Jim Ludwick, describes allegations of racism within OFIR as being “just a tactic” of their opponents and states: “Individuals who do not want immigration to be discussed try to stiffle [sic] debate by calling anyone who believes in ending illegal immigration a racist.” Sometimes, OFIR’s sympathizers go even further than this, and insinuate that the group’s political opponents, such as the National Council of La Raza, are the true “racists,” [1] a claim which is easily refuted. When damning evidence of OFIR’s white nationalist agenda is revealed, Rick Hickey is the group’s “go-to” spokesperson: he is skilled at rhetorical contortions of reality and Big Lie tactics.

Take, for example, this response from Hickey in a discussion thread on the anti-immigrant “Daniel’s Political Musings” blog:
“FOR THE RECORD: OFIR was founded by Pres. Jim Ludwick in Jan. 2000. […] Mr. Ludwick has never been involved with the New Nation website/group nor have I.” [2]

In OFIR, we have an organization that is not even willing to be honest about its own history.

What’s the Big Deal?

New Nation News is an unashamed white supremacist “news” website. Recent headlines on the website featured terms such as “Mexiroach”, “illegal mud”, “vile jew”, “beaner”, “spi[***]r” plus of course “ni[***]r” and “n[*]gteen”. Those who wish to observe the site’s cheap racism may do so at www. newnation. org and www. nnnforum. org/forums/

Until the first half of 2000, New Nation News (NNN) was the host of the Oregonians for Immigration Reform website. The NNN website now simply contains a placeholder page [3] providing a web link to the current OFIR site. The NNN site’s sponsorship of Oregonians for Immigration Reform on the web has become embarrassing for the group, because it contradicts OFIR’s recent denials of racism. The main problem is, their denials don't add up at all.

Mr. Hickey claims OFIR was founded in the year 2000, and there is no continuity between them and the group represented on NNN. Some basic research shows Hickey’s story to be full of holes.

Oregonians for Immigration Reform: Some History

The name “Oregonians for Immigration Reform” first surfaced in 1995, as an organization founded by Sharon Shepperd of Independence, Oregon. [4] Shepperd’s organization petitioned to put anti-immigrant initiatives on the state ballot in both 1996 and 1998, failing to qualify for the ballot both years. Shepperd’s group also attracted support from the fanatically anti-gay and anti-abortion Oregon Citizens Alliance in 1996. [5] During these early years, the organization gave its acronym as “OIR” rather than “OFIR”. While running ballot initiative campaigns, the group flatly denied that it was racist. When it became apparent that the 1998 anti-immigrant ballot initiative petitions would fail, a disillusioned Shepperd stated that she and her co-petitioners would “probably stay loosely organized around the issue”, but that she had no further plans for state ballot campaigns.

New Nation News hosted an OIR web archive for the years 1997-1998, according to the placeholder page currently on its website. A search using the archive.org site shows that the OIR website on New Nation was also updated during 1999 and 2000. Here is a screenshot from December 2000 (click on the thumbnail to see a larger image):


The contact person for the OIR website during this period, Frank Brehm, gives his name and old email address in the screenshot above. Note that the OIR webpage states that it was "Established 1997". Brehm is listed on the current OFIR website as its webmaster [6] and has been listed as a “Registered Agent” for the organization since March 2000.

In January 2001, the racist Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) announced in its “Immigration Report”:

“FAIR is pleased to announce a new addition to our growing movement, Oregonians for Immigration Reform (OFIR). OFIR’s leaders, Jim Ludwick and Frank Brehm, are capable, dedicated activists whose credentials include lobbying in Washington against the expansion of the H-1B program.” [7]

The “lobbying in Washington” credential goes to Brehm, who testified on May 25, 2000 before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims. Note that Brehm—the webmaster for the OIR site hosted by the white supremacist NNN—was by then using his lobbying effort as a means of gaining respectability. Also note that Brehm appears side-by-side with OFIR president Jim Ludwick as a “leader” of the “new” organization.

What was “new” about OFIR as compared to OIR, beyond the addition of one letter to the organization’s acronym, and the mention of Ludwick as an additional figure? Not much beyond an improved public relations act (including a decision to drop the old website, it seems). OFIR leadership may have been groomed by FAIR representatives for a better image with the public. An annual report issued by the Federation in 2001 includes the following quote from Frank Brehm indicating his discussion with FAIR field staff:

“In speaking with a number of members over the past week, they, like me, felt re-energized in the cause of immigration reform by your presentation and use of dialogue to assist the group in formulating strategy.” [8]

Putting the Pieces Together

Rick Hickey’s statement that neither he nor President Ludwick had any involvement with New Nation News is, at best, a legalistic argument designed to obscure OFIR’s origins. By stating that Ludwick had no relationship with NNN, Hickey deliberately covers over the fact that Ludwick formed a revamped, different-by-one-letter organization alongside Brehm, who had enjoyed a relationship with the NNN white nationalists. The Federation for American Immigration Reform may have encouraged OIR/OFIR’s makeover.

Does OFIR have no obligation to respond to its history of palling around with those who speak of “n[****]rs” and “sp[**]s”? Indeed, anyone who requests an honest answer about this is, to Hickey’s mind, a “dummy”. [9] The people of Oregon and beyond deserve far better than such scorn. If Hickey cannot be forthcoming about his own group, then why should he be given any respect in the complex immigration debate? In both domains, his contempt for the truth is palpable.

NOTES:
[1] See the letter of David C. Hamilton at: http://www. oregonir.org /Letters.htm
[2] http://danielisright. blogspot. com/2008/07/easy-as-uno-dos-tres.html#3660577154493523039
[3] http://www. newnation. org/OIR/oir.html
[4] “Petitions Target Illegal Immigrants.” The Oregonian, 3/15/96, p.B-01
[5] See: John Gabriel, Whitewash: Racialized Politics and the Media, p.79. Online citation here.
[6] http://www. oregonir. org/feedback_form.htm
[7] http://www. fairus. org/site/PageServer?pagename=research_research1c6f
[8] http://www. fairus. org/site/DocServer/fair_annual_report_2001.pdf?docID=482
[9] http://danielisright. blogspot. com/2008/05/i-didnt-vote-for-mccamnesty.html#1427509817645853653